Top Chef Leah Cohen, showed her take on the classic Filipino dish, adobo, during Madrid Fusion Manila. Chef Leah, who is half Filipino, owns Pig and Khao, a New York restaurant that brings a unique spin to Southeast Asian dishes.

Her rendition of adobo included some unconventional ingredients like quail, Szechuan peppercorn, and limestone paste.

Here's the recipe to Chef Leah's Crispy Quail Adobo…

The key to a great adobo is its sauce. Soy sauce and garlic are the core of adobo sauce.

For Chef Leah's version, she uses Kikkoman soy sauce, because regular soy sauce is too salty. She then adds oil and coconut milk to make the sauce creamier.

Bay leaves are also put in the sauce mixture. Combine the ingredients together, and put in some black pepper, garlic to get the savory adobo flavor.

Since this is a modern take on adobo, the meat is not braised in the sauce. Instead, the quail is fried. The quail is semi-boneless, to make it easier to eat.

Chef Leah then dips half of the quail in the batter and fries it. After you drain the excess oil off the quail, garnish the dish with scallions, crispy garlic, cilantro, and Szechuan peppercorns, which add a numbing tingling sensation.

In her restaurant, Pig and Khao, Chef Lea also serves this dish with quail eggs. This modern adobo is served with rice because you simply can't have adobo without it.

Quail Adobo is one of the popular dishes at Pig and Khao. We enjoyed the sweet and spicy flavors coming from the coconut vinegar and coconut milk. The fried garlic sprinkled on top even added a little more kick.

Another version of this dish is braising a pork belly and frying it up like lechon kawali, then coating it with the delicious sauce. A sous-vide egg is also served with this. It's best to break open the yolk so the sauce will be even creamier.

About me

Anton worked for the biggest multinational company in the Philippines
for 12+ years, straight out of college, before finally quitting his day job to become a full-time Online Media Entrepreneur.
OurAwesomePlanet.com, which he started in 2005, is the number #1
food and travel media in the Philippines which aims to promote the “Food and Travel Secrets in the Philippines” and to
inspire Filipinos that living in the Philippines is truly awesome!
Anton Diaz received the first Tourism Star Award for media by
the Department of Tourism for his valuable contribution in promoting
Philippine cuisine and destinations through his blog Our Awesome
Planet thereby encouraging tourists to visit and taste the best in what the Philippines has to offer.
Our Awesome Planet is recognized as one of the Top 50 Travel Blogs in
the world!